StreetCount 2015 Qualitative Research

June 2015

Grandmothers

Grandfathers

Mothers

Fathers

Sons

Daughters

Sleeping rough in Melbourne

The StreetCount 2015 qualitative research was undertaken by Effective Change Pty Ltd for the City of Melbourne as part of the City of Melbourne’s research series on people sleeping rough in the city. The StreetCount research is funded through the City of Melbourne’s City Research Department.

StreetCount research commenced in 2008 with annual point-in-time counts of the number of people sleeping rough. Since 2012 the point-in-time count is undertaken biannually and a qualitative research project is undertaken on the alternate years.

StreetCount 2015 is the second qualitative research project in the series.

Rough sleeping refers to people residing in public places such as the street, in cars, under bridges or in similar arrangements. Not all rough sleepers are chronically homeless (refers to the length of time people are homeless) although this presumption is generally true, some have only been homeless for a short period of time.

The Road Home, the Australian Government White Paper on homelessness recognised rough sleepers as having complex needs and a particular vulnerability to illness culminating in a mortality rate four times that of the general population.

For further information, please contact:

Nanette Mitchell

Senior Social Planner - Homelessness | Community, Safety & Wellbeing

City of Melbourne

GPO Box 1603 Melbourne 3001 | T: 03 96589920 | E:

Prepared by Effective Change Pty Ltd for the City of Melbourne

Effective Change would like to thank The Salvation Army for their support, in particular Anthony McEvoy and staff at the Salvation Army Hamodova café where all of the interviews took place.

The Effective Change research team would also like to thank the people who participated in the research and willingly shared their experiences of sleeping rough. Through the project we met many lovely people who were going about their lives as best they could despite the obvious daily hardships. We hope that their stories presented in this report contribute to improvements in their daily life and ultimately housing.

People’s names and various personal details have been changed in this report to ensure confidentiality.

All photos and art in this report are included with permission.

A snapshot of the people sleeping rough – StreetCount 2015

Sleeping Rough in MelbourneStreetCount 2015 qualitative research report1

StreetCount 2015 was successful in engaging a range of people sleeping rough including diversity of gender, age groups, period of sleeping rough and Indigenous background.

Although people were not formally asked about their family situation, through their stories a number of people mentioned that they were grandmothers, grandfathers, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters.

The term ‘sleeping rough’ is a misnomer – as most of the people we talked to were not able to ‘sleep’ very much at all.

Sleeping Rough in MelbourneStreetCount 2015 qualitative research report1

Who is sleeping rough?

Of the 83 people sleeping rough who participated in at least one interview:

  • 19% were females, 81% were males
  • 62% were between 30-49 years old
  • 19% identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
  • 29% had been sleeping rough for 10 plus years.

Where are people sleeping rough?

  • People slept in a range of places. Couch surfing, parks, street, squats, under bridges, train stations and alleyways are the most commonly reported places. The majority of people moved every few days.

Looking after belongings

  • One of the hardest things to manage when sleeping rough is looking after belongings. On a daily basis belongings are stashed, stolen, lost and/or carried around all day. Access to lockers and replacing ID and personal papers when lost were raised as issues.

Services used

  • People used a range of services on a daily/most days basis. For most of the participants, public transport and food were used daily or most days. Other common services used were showers, laundry, food vans, day centres and libraries.
  • On a four-point scale rating how helpful services had been, the majority of people rated services as ‘helpful’ or ‘very helpful’.

Filling in the day

  • Daily life for most people meant ‘just dealing with getting food and shelter’. Boredom and having nothing to do all day were commonly reported. Most people socialised with other people sleeping rough. Very few people were in contact with or visited their family.

Relationships with others

  • Many people related stories of random goodwill from people in the community, others related feeling humiliated and ignored. People sleeping rough often helped out other people in the same situation. Relationships could be complicated between people however with drugs, alcohol, violence, disruptive behaviour and distrust commonly being present.

Safety

  • About half of the people did ‘not feel safe’. ‘Always needing to be alert’, ‘always watching your back’, ‘always on the lookout for people that might harm you’ were frequent comments. Safety – or feeling unsafe – was the main reason why people moved where they sleep every few days.

Impact on health and wellbeing

  • Trying to stay mentally stable, exposure to drugs and alcohol, a lack of sleep and dealing with the cold were commonly reported as having an impact on health and wellbeing. Trying to function on little sleep and/or interrupted sleep has a significant impact on mental and physical health.

Hopes and the future

  • In six months’ time many people hoped to be in their own home. Along with this people wanted a job and to be in a good mental and physical state. Other people expressed no hope for their future and took things one day at a time.

The journey

  • Of the 83 people who undertook a first interview, 34 of these people participated in between two and nine interviews over a ten-week engagement period. Relatively little change was identified in their daily lives over multiple interviews. For most people the services used, places they slept and the need to move every few days remained relatively the same. Week after week, most people hoped to be in safe, secure and stable housing in the future. The destination of people who did not continue to participate in interviews is unknown, however during this period only three people gained some form of housing or accommodation.

What would make a difference?

Housing and accommodation were the main things that would make a difference to people. Other suggestions for improvements to services or initiatives that would make a difference to people included:

  • More showers and laundry facilities
  • Increased number of lockers and access to lockers 24/7
  • Access to open spaces and facilities where people sleeping rough could play sport, get fit at a gym, and/or participate in team games
  • Places where people can paint or be involved in creative, artistic expression
  • More centres where homeless people can go to relax, sit comfortably, catch up with people
  • A women’s place where women can go and relax and talk
  • Shelters or places where people sleeping rough can be sheltered from the rain and cold
  • More security around the hot spots where people are sleeping rough
  • Better weekend services – especially food services
  • Increase fresh food and vegetarian options available through the food services
  • A job or engagement in study, with study options ranging from learning to read, adult education type courses, work skills through to tertiary studies
  • ‘Living skills course’ to support people in the transition from homelessness to housing.

Contents

1.Background

1.1.Homelessness context

1.2.City of Melbourne and homelessness

1.3.Rough sleepers in Melbourne

1.4.Homelessness and sleeping rough – a snapshot from the research

2.StreetCount 2015

2.1.Aims and objectives

2.2.Methodology

2.3 Key areas of enquiry

2.4 Ethics

2.5 Project challenges

2.6 Consistencies with previous StreetCount research

2.7 Data limitations

3.StreetCount 2015 overview

3.1.StreetCount 2015 participants

3.2.Case study

3.3.Case study

4.Findings: About the people sleeping rough

4.1.Who is sleeping rough?

4.2.Where are people sleeping rough and how often do they move?

4.3.Looking after belongings

4.4.Services used

4.5.Filling in the day

4.6.Relationships with others

4.7.How safe do you feel?

4.8.Impact on health and wellbeing

4.9.Hopes and the future

4.10.Case study

4.11.Case study

5.Findings: Life from week-to-week

5.1.Key themes across ten weeks

5.2.What changed?

5.3.Snapshot of some individual journeys

5.4.Hopes and the future

5.5.Moving out of sleeping rough?

6.Findings: What would make a difference?

6.1.Ideas for supporting people to move out of sleeping rough

6.2.Ideas for supporting people while sleeping rough

6.3.Ideas for supporting personal development

6.4.Case study

7. Conclusion

Attachment 1: Literature review sources

Attachment 2: Project methodology

Tables and Graphs

Table 1: Comparison of 2014 and 2015 research participants

Table 2: Length of time sleeping rough

Table 3: Participation in activities

Table 4: Breakdown of 34 people who did 2 or more ‘return’ interviews

Table 5: Number of people by number of return interviews

Table 6: Male homeless for 12 months

Table 7: Female homeless for 6 months

Graph 1: StreetCount 2015 interviews by week (n=172)

Graph 2: StreetCount 2015 Participant age and gender breakdown (n=83)

Graph 3: StreetCount 2015 Length of time sleeping rough (n=83)

Graph 4: StreetCount 2015 Where people have been sleeping (n=83)

Graph 5: StreetCount 2015 What services did you use in the past week and how often? (n=83)

Graph 6: StreetCount 2015 How helpful to you were services that you used (n=83)

Graph 7: StreetCount 2015 How safe have you felt over the past week? (n=83)

Graph 8: Where people have been sleeping interviews 2-9 (n=34)

1.Background

Sleeping Rough in MelbourneStreetCount 2015 qualitative research report1

1.1.Homelessness context

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares that human rights are universal – to be enjoyed by all people, no matter who they are or where they live. Access to safe, secure, affordable and adequate housing is a fundamental human right to which all human beings are entitled.

The right to housing is more than simply a right to shelter. It is a right to have somewhere to live that is adequate.

‘A person who is homeless may be facing violations of the right to an adequate standard of living, the right to education, the right to liberty and security of the person, the right to privacy, the right to social security, the right to freedom from discrimination, the right to vote and many more’ (Australian Human Rights Commission).

Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and wellbeing of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services….

Article 25 Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Sleeping Rough in MelbourneStreetCount 2015 qualitative research report1

Structural factors and interconnecting dimensions such as access to affordable housing, unemployment, disability, low income and relationship breakdown have direct links with a person’s vulnerability to insecure housing and /or homelessness.

‘Homelessness is about people rather than merely shelter and is often exacerbated by a number of other issues including poor physical and emotional health, disability, drug and alcohol issues and financial problems. It is widely accepted that safe, appropriate, affordable, and secure housing with well organised support contributes to improved health and wellbeing outcomes.’[1]

Key homelessness policies and sector directions

Governments at all levels have a range of policies, plans, strategies and initiatives aimed at facilitating affordable housing for all Australians and bringing an end to homelessness.

The Road Home – A National Approach to Reducing Homelessness2008 provides a vision for tackling homelessness and looking beyond housing with strategies that address the broader needs of the homeless population, including employment, education, health and social support. The Road Home includes two targets – halving homelessness by 2020 and providing accommodation to rough sleepers who need it. The paper commits the Australian government to end homelessness permanently and describes a future when homelessness will no longer be an acceptable part of Australian society.

The Victorian Homeless Action Plan2011-2015 places a strong focus on supporting innovative approaches to homelessness, early intervention and prevention – getting to the root of the problem – and better targeting of resources to where they are most needed and where they will make the most difference.

‘Action and setting the foundation for reform, with a focus on prevention and early intervention, innovation and partnerships, is required to break the cycle of homelessness.’[2]

Local government provides a range of services that contribute to the wellbeing of their communities. Working with Federal and State governments and partners in the homelessness sector, councils are involved in a number of strategies and interface actions that contribute to ending homelessness as well as supporting people who are homeless.

The City of Melbourne has made it a priority to address the issue of homelessness and through Pathways: Homelessness Strategy 2014-2017, remain committed to this aim.

Common elements of key policies, plans, strategies and initiatives include an acknowledgement that addressing homelessness requires:

  • more than just providing shelter
  • a partnership and coordinated approach across levels of government and services
  • addressing the fundamental structural contributors to homelessness including affordable housing and family and domestic violence
  • building people’s lives, addressing individual needs, and building capabilities and resilience to break the cycle of homelessness
  • a long-term commitment.

Housing first and outreach models which offer long-term accommodation and wrap-around services are now seen as a better service approach to support people out of homelessness.

‘The system needs to respond to those in crisis as well as focusing on prevention and early intervention. The service system must also respond to the intensive support requirements of those with complex needs who have experienced long-term homelessness.’[3]

Defining homelessness

There is no one definition of homelessness. This presents significant challenges for counting the homeless population.

In 2012 the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released a definition of homelessness for application to the general Australian population. ‘When a person does not have suitable accommodation alternatives they are considered homeless if their current living arrangement:

  • is in a dwelling that is inadequate; or
  • has no tenure, or if their initial tenure is short and not extendable; or
  • does not allow them to have control of, and access to space for social relations.

Under this definition homelessness is a lack of one or more elements that represent ‘home’lessness, not rooflessness.’[4]

Prior to the ABS definition, three categories of homelessness (primary, secondary and tertiary) developed by Chamberlain and McKenzie in 1992 were widely used to assist counting the number of people experiencing homelessness in Australia. Whilst the new ABS definition is acknowledged and utilised in the City of Melbourne’s Homelessness Strategy, it is also recognised that utilising the three categories developed by Chamberlain and McKenzie is valuable in articulating the types of homelessness in order to better respond and create pathways out of homelessness.[5]

Primary homelessness / People without conventional accommodation such as people living on the streets, sleeping in derelict buildings, or using cars for temporary shelter.
Secondary homelessness / People who move frequently from one form of temporary shelter to another. This category covers people accommodated in homelessness services, people residing temporarily with family and friends and those using rooming/boarding houses on an occasional basis.
Tertiary homelessness / People who live in boarding houses on a medium to long-term basis. This type of accommodation typically does not have self-contained rooms and residents share bathroom and kitchen facilities. Rooming house residents do not have the security of tenure provided by a lease.

Defining rough sleepers

‘Sleeping rough’ is used in a general sense to describe people sleeping rough on the streets or in improvised accommodation. Rough sleepers generally live on the fringe of society – and by definition their routines are usually chaotic and troubled, making the task of (defining) and counting them a difficult one.[6]

Service approaches targeting rough sleepers

The homelessness sector has a complex array of services, programs, providers and funders involving the three tiers of government and not-for-profit agencies and organisations. Homelessness support can spread across and between a spectrum of service areas including housing, welfare, health, substance abuse, employment and family violence,

Some of the services and programs targeting rough sleepers in Melbourne include:

  • Outreach/outreach teams
  • Centre based/front line support services
  • Crisis facilities and accommodation
  • Nursing, allied health, health promotion
  • Doctors, drug and alcohol and therapeutic services
  • Crisis accommodation
  • Food/meals
  • Showers
  • Laundry
  • Material aid
  • Recreation
  • Information, referral, advice, advocacy services.

Sleeping Rough in MelbourneStreetCount 2015 qualitative research report1

1.2.City of Melbourne and homelessness

The City of Melbourne provides a range of community services and programs that enhance the lives of people who live and work in the city. The City of Melbourne is in a position to:

  • support the development of housing and support services for disadvantaged and homeless people
  • advocate on behalf of disadvantaged and homeless people to relevant government departments and other relevant organisations
  • undertake research to investigate the feasibility of new services, and
  • create opportunities for including disadvantaged and homeless people in the life of the city.

The City of Melbourne services and systems’ interface with people sleeping rough includes:

  • partnerships with and funding of agencies delivering services to people sleeping rough
  • parks and gardens management
  • management and maintenance of public spaces and streets
  • public facilities such as libraries, swimming pools
  • municipal public health management, including food handling
  • regulation of boarding houses/rooming houses
  • squat closures
  • emergency management
  • homelessness service coordination project.

City of Melbourne Homelessness Strategy

The City of Melbourne adopted Pathways City of Melbourne Homelessness Strategy 2014-2017 in August 2014. The Strategyprovides Council with direction for future work and actions in responding to homelessness.The Strategy outlines five key themes: